Stalemate in Ukraine, As Everyone Stands Around Blinking; "Pierre" Helped Fund Coup

"They say" Russian troops are "occupying" key facilities in the Crimea, but there is no confirmation, as the troops on view have no identifying markings and they're not saying anything. I follow updates on the Beeb, not because they're even remotely "evenhanded," but because they are extensive.

Here's a portion of today's live updates:

1. Welcome to our live page on the developing crisis in Crimea - Ukraine's only Russian-majority region and the home of Russia's Black Sea fleet.
   Men in Russian military uniforms are blockading a military airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. Meanwhile, men in military uniform without national insignia are patrolling an airport in the Crimean capital Simferopol.
2. Ukraine's newly appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that the Belbek international airport in Sevastopol is blocked by military units of the Russian navy, calling it a "military invasion and occupation.''
3. The Interfax news agency reports that Russian servicemen wearing helmets and armoured body protection and backed by armoured personnel carriers, have taken up position on the perimeter of a military airport at Sevastopol. The agency quoted military sources in the region as saying that they had gone to Belbek military airport to stop "fighters" flying in.
4. A spokesman for the airport in Simferopol has told the Interfax Ukraine news agency that it is operating normally despite the presence of the armed men filmed patrolling it.
5. 07:53:
   Russian President Vladimir Putin has also ordered his government to continue talks with Ukraine on economic and trade relations and to consult foreign partners including the IMF and the G8 on financial aid, a statement on the Kremlin's website said. It also said Putin has ordered the government to consider a request from Crimea for humanitarian aid.
6. 07:58:
   It is not the only crisis facing the new Ukranian government: its currency, the hryvnia, has slumped to an all-time low. The IMF has said it is ready to step in and will send a team in the coming days to assess the economic situation, but Ukraine's finance ministry has warned it needs help urgently - and 35 billion dollars over the next two years to avoid defaulting on its debt.

Seems everyone is standing around blinking and drinking tea and waiting for someone else to do something. Frau Merkel is strangely absent.

Meanwhile, Mark Ames over at Pando has uncovered the rather handsome funding the Omidyar Network has been providing the rebels in Kiev, hardly surprising when you think about it. Billionaires and oligarchs and plutocrats are gonna do what they do, and one of the things they do is synchronize governments all over the world to their bidding. As Ames notes, this is not a new phenomenon, as George Soros was deeply involved in the Color Revolutions of Eastern Europe.

Nevertheless, knowing this man is partially funding the Kiev uprising is kind of icky. Since, so far, the rebels have gotten away with it, and their sponsors are pumping their fists and issuing threats all over the place, one can only wonder which plutocrat - desired and funded rebellion/coup will be next. Venezuela is already in the crosshairs, but many others are in process.

The other thing is that Pierre's funding is combined with that of USAID (also very active in Venezuela) and so serves the combined interests of the US Government and the Billionaire's Boy's Club, and Pierre is also funding all sorts of NGOs active in the rebellion.

There will be blowback, but this is a new chapter in the overthrow of recalcitrant governments and the installation of more compliant ones.

But they still call it "democracy" so it's all good.